A dicing apparatus which performs cutting and grooving processing to a work, such as a wafer in which semiconductor devices and electronic components are formed, includes a blade which is rotated at high speed by a spindle, a work table which holds the work, cleaning device which cleans the work after dicing, various moving shafts which changes the relative position between the blade and the work, and the like.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a dicing apparatus. A dicing apparatus 10 is provided with a processing section 20 which includes a high-frequency motor built-in type spindles 22 and 22 which are arranged to face each other to serve as processing device, and at the tip of each of which a blade 21 and a wheel cover (not shown) are attached, imaging device 23 which images the surface of a work W, and a work table 31 which sucks and holds the work W.
In addition to the processing section 20, the dicing apparatus 10 is configured by further including a cleaning section 52 that performs spin cleaning of the worked work W, a load port 51 that mounts thereon a cassette storing a number of works W each of which is mounted on a frame F, transporting device 53 that transports the work W, a controller (not shown) that performs control of each of the sections, and the like.
As shown in FIG. 2, the processing section 20 is configured such that a X table 33, which is guided by X guides 34 and 34 provided on a X base 36 and which is driven by a linear motor 35 in the X direction shown by arrows X-X in the figure, is provided, and such that the work table 31 is provided on the X table 33 via a rotating table 32 which is rotated in the θ direction.
On the other hand, Y tables 41 and 41, which are guided by Y guides 42 and 42 and which are driven by a stepping motor and a ball screw (both not shown) in the Y direction shown by arrows Y-Y in the figure, are provided on the side surface of a Y base 44. A Z table 43 which is driven by drive device (not shown) in the Z direction shown by arrows Z-Z in the figure is provided on each of the Y tables 41. The high-frequency motor built-in type spindle 22, at the tip of which the blade 21 is attached, and the imaging device 23 (not shown in FIG. 2; see FIG. 1) are fixed to the Z table 43. Since the processing section 20 is configured as described above, the blade 21 is index-fed in the Y direction and is cutting-in fed in the Z direction, while the work table 31 is cutting-fed in the X direction.
The spindles 22 are both rotated at high speed of 1,000 rpm to 80,000 rpm, and a supply nozzle (not shown), which supplies cutting fluid so as to immerse the work W in the cutting fluid, is provided in the vicinity of the spindles 22 (see, for example Patent Document 1).
Further, in recent years, a laser dicing apparatus has also been used for the processing of the work W. The laser dicing apparatus is configured such that, instead of using the blade 21, a laser beam is made incident on the work W by adjusting the condensing point of the laser beam to a position inside the work W, so as to allow a plurality of reformed regions to be formed inside the work W by multi-photon absorption, and such that the work is then expanded so as to be divided into separate chips T.
The laser dicing apparatus includes the load port, the transporting device, the work table, and the like, similarly to the dicing apparatus 10, and is configured as shown in FIG. 3 such that, similarly to the spindle 22, laser heads 61 serving as processing device are provided in the processing section 20 so as to face each other.
The laser head 61 is configured by a laser oscillator 61A, a collimator lens 61B, a mirror 61C, a condensing lens 61D, and the like, and is configured such that a laser beam L oscillated from the laser oscillator 61A is formed into a horizontally parallel beam by the collimator lens 61B and is perpendicularly reflected by the mirror 61C so as to be condensed by the condensing lens 61D (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
When the condensing point of the laser beam L is set on the inside in the thickness direction of the work W mounted on the work table 31, the energy of the laser beam L transmitted through the surface of the work W is concentrated at the condensing point as shown in FIG. 4(a), so that a reformed region P, such as a crack region, a melting region, a refractive-index change region, is formed by multi-photon absorption in the vicinity of the condensing point inside the work W.
When the work W is moved in the horizontal direction, the plurality of reformed regions P are formed side by side in the inside of the work W as shown in FIG. 4(b). In this state, the work W is divided from the reformed region P as a starting point naturally or by applying a slight external force. In this case, the work W is easily divided into chips, without the chipping being generated on the front surface and the rear surface of the work W.
In the dicing apparatus 10 and the laser dicing apparatus which are configured as described above, before the dicing is performed, the relative distance between the imaging position of the imaging device and the processing position of the processing device is measured, and is adjusted as required.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-280328
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-192367